Seven Days of Sabolu
by QueenSchnee
Summary: So I'm trying to do sabolu week, and the first day's prompt is affection
1. Affection

Day 1: affection

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Sabo is not really an affectionate person. It might have been due to his upbringing, where his parents had actively avoided touching him any more than absolutely necessary, or due to his natural personality. He could kid around and hang out with people, and there were many that he felt affection towards, but he preferred to maintain his space. Koala and Ace had teased him for it before, but both understood that it was just one of those things that made him, him.

Luffy is the opposite in that regard. Either he's never heard of the idea of personal space or he's just never had a reason to adhere to it. He'd press his chest against someone's back to look over their shoulder or he'd jump on people if he got too excited or he'd just get close to them for no real reason at all. People around him knew that he cared for them because he didn't think twice about saying it or showing it, and it was one of the reasons that he seemed to make friends so ridiculously easily. He wore his heart on his sleeve a lot and he showed his affection freely.

It was also a source of tension in their relationship. It wasn't a huge issue since Luffy knew Sabo as well as Ace and Koala, or even better than them by this point, and he knew that that was just one aspect of Sabo's personality. Just like how Luffy could never be unsupervised around food because he'd eat everything without a second thought and that Ace couldn't be trusted to cook because he'd always burn everything, without fail. He tried harder for Luffy's sake, but that was just how he was.

So Sabo expressed his affection in other ways. Such as sitting outside in the cold, like he was now. He buried his nose in his scarf and tapped at his phone screen, scrolling through old emails and messages and deleting most of them. He busied himself with that for a while until he felt someone lightly kick at his leg. He looked up to see Koala standing there with two cups of coffee in hand, looking entirely too lively for this time of day. Sabo moved his bag off of her chair and she plopped down next to him, handing him his drink before she leaned back and sipped her own.

"There was a line, but I'm glad that they had a coffee place that was open so close to here. This really would have been bad without some coffee."

Sabo grunted, but Koala took the response in stride. He'd need at least half an hour after drinking his first cup of coffee before he could properly hold a conversation. She continued to talk, mostly to fill the air, but eventually Sabo started to respond back. They didn't discuss anything important, but it made the time pass a little faster. They had been out here since yesterday, just waiting for the store to open and Sabo felt equal parts exhausted and stir crazy.

A new game was being released today and Luffy, and his friend Usopp, had preordered it a while back and the duo had planned to camp outside of the store to get the game early. Apparently the first 50 people through the door would receive a special gift pack along with their order. Sabo wasn't sure what said gift pack included, but it seemed pretty damn important to Luffy. The issue was that Usopp hadn't been able to make it on account of another one of his friends being admitted to the hospital and then Luffy, and Ace, had been taken on an impromptu camping trip by Garp. Sabo would have tried to save his boyfriend from what was sure to be a traumatic weekend, but he'd learned to avoid Garp at all costs.

Instead he was here in Luffy's place. He hadn't told Luffy that he was going in his place, and he'd planned on coming alone, but Koala had tagged along to keep him company, and as repayment for an earlier favor. He appreciated her company because it kept him from thinking about how he was freezing his ass off. The store was due to open in an hour and after that he'd go back to his and Koala's apartment and collapse in his bed for a while. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts, because if he thought about his warm bed then he'd want to sleep, and if he fell asleep now then he wouldn't want to wake up for a while.

Between the two of them, and the ever growing line of people behind them, Sabo and Koala managed to make the time pass, and before too long the store's employees were arriving, wearing their uniforms and looking dead to the world. The crowd thrummed with excitement and Sabo just sighed in relief before packing his collapsible chair back in the over the shoulder bag. It came closer and closer to the store's opening time and then finally, finally, the doors were unlocked and people flooded into the store.

After that it was all just a rush of activity. He'd made sure that he was one of the first ones to the counter and he'd held up his phone so that the girl behind the cash register could scan the receipt email. He saw Koala doing the same with Usopp's receipt out of the corner of his good eye. He drummed his fingers against the countertop as the woman ducked under the counter to get a copy of the game and a bag, and elbowed at someone who was getting entirely too damn close behind him, before she stood up again. He took the bag from her and turned to make his way to the entrance but there were too many people between him and the door, which wasn't good because he was running on fumes by this point and his annoyance was at its peak. He felt someone tug on his sleeve and expected to see another person with no concept of personal space, but as he turned to glare at them he saw Koala's instead. She led him back through the crowd of people, and back outside before he could give into the urge to punch someone.

Once they were out of the crowd, and on the way back to her car, she sighed. "We're free now so you can cool it with that look."

"What look?"

She gave him an unimpressed look of her own. "Please, you look like you're two seconds away from putting someone's head through a wall and your fingers are twitching. And don't think that I didn't see you elbow someone." She waved a finger at him, looking like a kindergarten teacher talking to a particularly stubborn student.

Sabo frowned at her before schooling his face into something a bit less petulant. "That guy was literally right on me. He should be glad that I didn't go any farther."

"Yeah, yeah," Koala said after a pause. She knew that she wouldn't get any farther with a sleep deprived, and annoyed, Sabo, so she just dropped it. For the moment at least. While Sabo had a temper, he was usually good at keeping it in public, or at least he was good at not getting arrested during those times that he did lose it. Still, someone had to keep him out of trouble as much as possible, and she usually shared the job with Ace. And usually it was a pain in the ass, but that was what you did for friends, right? She skipped the lecture and settled for socking him in the arm and Sabo rubbed at the spot but didn't respond.

He fell asleep a few minutes later in the passenger seat.

A few days later and Sabo was waiting for Ace and Luffy to get back to their apartment. Koala had dropped off Usopp's gift, after making sure to make the other man promise not to tell Luffy. Sabo wanted this to be a surprise after all.

Sabo sat on the couch, flipping through boring movie channels before he heard voices outside in the hallway. It was immediately obvious who they belonged to and Sabo smiled as he heard Luffy's high pitched complaints and Ace's growls at him to shut up. It sounded like Garp had really had fun with them this time.

The door opened and Ace and Luffy trudged in, looking worse for wear. Ace spotted him first and glared over at him. "What the fuck," Ace grumbled, "I thought that you had your own place. Why are you over here again asshole?"

"I'm here to see your pleasant face Ace," Sabo said, not bothering to hide his cheeky grin. "How was your weekend by the way? Mine was great. It was relaxing."

Ace rolled his eyes and muttered 'asshole' under his breath before carrying his bags back to his room. The door slammed shut and Sabo smirked. Ace would come back out when he'd cooled down and didn't feel like fighting everyone, but in the meantime, he turned to smile at Luffy, or rather the back of his head.

"Hey Luffy. You look pretty rough." Luffy, who had immediately dropped his bag and headed for the kitchen, drew his head back from the fridge. He'd already started cramming some food in his mouth, and so his reply was muffled, but Sabo was able to pick out the important stuff. Mostly that Garp had spent the entire weekend terrorizing them, including leaving them in the middle of the woods without any of their stuff and attacking them at regular intervals to test their awareness. To make matters even worse Luffy had missed out on getting his game on the day that I came out and he'd missed out on getting the gift pack that came with it. Sabo winced in sympathy at their plight before standing up from the couch and holding his arms open. It was a clear request for a hug and Luffy grinned before slamming the refrigerator door and dashing into the living room.

Sabo stumbled back a few steps as Luffy practically tackled him. He wrapped his arms around Sabo's neck and his legs around his waist and nuzzled his cheek against Sabo's face. Sabo returned the hug with a sigh. Luffy had only been gone for a few days but Sabo had still missed him. He chuckled under his breath at the thought. He was already ridiculously attached to Luffy but it didn't feel like a bad thing.

Luffy pulled back and grinned down at Sabo. The smile stretched from cheek to cheek and Sabo felt blinded by it. Sabo's own smile slipped in lieu of a sudden rush of affection, and he stared at Luffy. Yeah, he decided as he lifted a hand up to cup the back of Luffy's head, he had it bad. He pulled Luffy down for a brief kiss, taking Luffy by surprise. Luffy responded quickly in turn and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. He let Sabo explore as he liked before pushing back, but soon Sabo pulled back. He pressed a kiss the corner of Luffy's mouth, drawing a smile out of the other man, before kissing his forehead. While he wasn't opposed to where that kiss may or may not have been heading, he was aware of the fact that Ace was just a room away and that Ace would have no qualms about kicking his ass if he caught Sabo getting too handsy with Luffy in the living room.

With a sigh he set Luffy back down, but didn't draw away. Luffy soaked up the contact like a sponge. "I got something for you over the weekend." Sabo told him and he let go of Luffy before walking over to the spot between the couch and the wall. He reached down and pulled out the store's bag and handed it to Luffy. Luffy looked surprised at the bag, but the look of surprise quickly morphed into a look of shock and then happiness and Sabo suddenly couldn't breathe.

Luffy's arms were around his neck again and this time Sabo hadn't had time to brace himself and he'd ended up falling back on the couch. It banged against the wall and Sabo knew that he'd get scolded for that later by Ace, but he didn't care because Luffy was smiling at him. That smile made everything worth it. The sleepless night and spending those hours outside in the cold, it was all worth it to see Luffy's grin and Sabo wanted to just stay like this for a while.

However, he was starting to see spots so he tapped Luffy's arms a few times and Luffy released his grip on him. He scrambled off of Sabo's lap and went for the bag again, which he'd dropped in his rush to hug Sabo. Luffy grabbed it and quickly climbed onto the couch again and leaned against Sabo. "Thanks Sabo! You're the best!" he shouted and Sabo let Luffy climb into his lap again as Luffy started talking a mile a minute about the game. Sabo couldn't follow most of it, partially because he hadn't played any video games in ages, but he nodded along anyways.

He saw movement in his peripherals and he looked up to see Ace standing there. Ace had changed his clothes and he was probably on his way to the kitchen, but he looked at the scene that the two of them made with a smile. He'd spent the whole weekend listening to Luffy complain about not being able to get this game and all of the stuff that he would miss and it was great to see Luffy's smile now. He flashed Sabo a thumbs up and Sabo nodded back.

Luffy didn't notice their exchange but he noticed when Sabo wrapped his arms around him and he settled into Sabo's arms with an even wider smile, while Sabo closed his eyes and listened to him talk.

He wasn't really an affectionate person, but being around Luffy made him want to try.


	2. Adventure

This isn't as shippy sabolu as yesterdays but i still had fun with it

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"This way Sabo!" Luffy shouted before taking a sudden turn. Sabo followed close behind with a grunt, keeping an eye on their backs for anyone still chasing them. It was clear at the moment, but he could still hear the marines raising hell in the distance and he gripped his staff tighter in response. The marines had been chasing after them but there were still plenty of other pirates on the island to keep them busy.

The duo ran through a few more side streets before coming to stop in an alley. Now the sounds of fighting had more or less faded and Sabo was left to consider his current problem. He glared down at the cuff around his left wrist as if the force of his own anger could somehow make it disappear. Luffy, who had his right wrist in the other cuff, was now scanning the street, although Sabo assumed that it was more from hunger than danger since his stomach was making a noise similar to a chainsaw.

That's right- they'd been on their way to go and get something to eat when they'd been confronted by marines. Sabo had, unintentionally mind you, run into Luffy and his crew on this island while finishing up a mission. He honestly hadn't known that Luffy was even on the island until just an hour ago when he'd been trying to finish up a den den mushi report to Ivankov and things had started exploding near the place where he was staying. He'd gone outside, armed with his staff, to check on the situation, when he'd spotted Luffy and a few of his crew members fighting what looked to be another group of pirates. After seeing Luffy, he'd quickly informed Iva that he'd fill him in on the rest of the report later before following after the group at a distance.

Luffy had been too busy fighting to notice him, but he wasn't surprised when Robin caught his eye mid-fight. He'd been staying just out of sight, just happy for the chance to watch Luffy fight, when she'd spotted him and smiled, breaking a few spines at the same time. With them had been a red headed girl and a blond that he'd never met before, but whom he recognized from their wanted posters.

The group had finished off the other pirates in a quick and brutal fashion before Sabo had revealed himself with a smile. From there he'd been introduced to their navigator Nami, and chef Sanji before fielding a few questions about the destruction of Baltigo that had been in the news. He was vaguer about the second topic, because you really never knew who could be listening, but Luffy's crew didn't seem to mind.

He'd been caught off guard when, mid-conversation, Luffy had suddenly declared that he was hungry and had grabbed his wrist and dragged him off from the group. The last thing he'd heard from them was Sanji's advice to 'guard his wallet'. Sabo doubted that there would even be anything left in there by the time Luffy got done with it.

After that Sabo had actually been in a good mood. It had been a couple of weeks since Dressrosa, and even the thought of Blackbeard had been enough to leave him and his surroundings in flames, but he'd been glad to see Luffy in good spirits. However, that good time had been rudely interrupted by the arrival of the marines. Fighting them off had been easy at first, especially since he was getting better and better with the mera mera fruit, but he'd slipped and gotten caught off guard. He and Luffy had been back to back and practically laughing about the situation when a pink haired marine had suddenly dashed to their side. Her hands had grabbed their wrists and before he'd had time to burn her off, she'd used armament haki and her own devil fruit and had created a pair of metal cuffs between them.

Sabo had quickly put up a wall of fire then and pulled Luffy and himself out of the fight. The cuffs, despite not being made out of seastone, had immediately put a damper on his fighting abilities, and retreating had seemed like the smarter option. Luffy hadn't really liked it, but he'd agreed to find Zoro, or anyone else who could cut the cuffs off.

Now they were wandering around and trying to avoid the marines who seemed to be swarming the place. Sabo scowled and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that he'd never hear the end of it if Koala or the others heard that he'd let his guard down to this degree.

He felt himself being pulled forward and he just followed Luffy to, surprise surprise, a food stand. The man behind the stall took one look at them, his eyes pausing on their faces and the cuff around their wrists and wisely decided not to ask any questions. Instead Sabo just ordered some meat buns and then had Luffy dig around in his pocket for his wallet because there was no way that he was trusting the bag of food near Luffy's hands.

Once they paid for their food, Sabo handed Luffy a meat bun and Luffy practically inhaled it, humming in pleasure as he ate. Sabo kept an eye on their surroundings, but he smiled as Luffy ate.

"Sorry, this probably wasn't the sort of lunch that you were expecting." He said, his smile turning a little sour. They probably wouldn't have ended up at a fancy restaurant or anything, but Sabo had at least hoped that they could have gone somewhere to just sit and talk since they hadn't hand the chance in Dressrosa.

Luffy blinked up at him with wide eyes before grabbed for another bun. "Whatdya mean?" he asked with a mouth full of food. He swallowed a mouthful that would have been painful for anyone else before saying, "I'm having a good time. Are you bored or somethin'?"

"You're having a good time? Even while being chased by marines?" Sabo asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yup. Cause I'm spending time with you." He grinned. "And that's fun enough!" He bit into his meat bun again. "'Sides, getting chased is fun too."

Sabo snorted in laughter before biting into a meat bun of his own. "Of course you'd find that fun." He chuckled. Luffy joined in laughing as well, but their laughter was cut short by the shouts of approaching marines and the sound of gunfire. Luffy quickly started shoving meat buns into his mouth while Sabo rolled his eyes and took off, pulling Luffy behind him.

As he ran he couldn't fight his smile. Just an hour ago he'd been planning on finishing up his report and resting before he was sent on a new mission, but now his heart was racing and he was on the run from the marines. It wasn't how he had expected his day to go, but it seemed that Luffy invited adventure wherever he went.


End file.
